If you are drunk and vomit in a Columbus cab, you will have a $50 fee tacked onto your fare.

Cab drivers say the fee, which went into effect at the end of 2013, will take some of the sting
out of having to clean up after drunken passengers.

“Once a passenger soils a vehicle, you cannot work regularly,” said Habtesus Ocbazghi, an
independent taxicab driver. “This person has to go home and clean it.”

Drivers also say they hope the fee will serve as a deterrent as well.

The city’s Vehicle for Hire Board approved the rules that say drunken passengers who soil cabs “
with bodily fluids or solids” can be charged as long as drivers post a sign and verbally explain
the fee.

Drivers must assess the fee at the end of the ride, said Amanda Ford, spokeswoman for the
Columbus Department of Public Safety. If a passenger refuses to pay, the driver can call
police.

Children and sober riders who are ill or become sick in the cab are exempt. So are women who
give birth in a cab.

Some large cities, including Chicago, have a similar charge. Others, such as New York and
Cleveland, do not allow for a soiling fee.

Acme Taxi driver David Herring, a 25-year veteran, said he has seen his share of drunken
passengers who mess up his cab.

Jeff Kates, president of Yellow Cab of Columbus, said the $50 fee does not make up for fares
lost in the hour it takes to clean a soiled taxi.

Kates said Yellow Cab taxis are outfitted with rubber floor mats for easier cleanup, and he is
instructing drivers to carry plastic bags that they can offer passengers who might become sick.

“It’s a huge disruption to the driver’s ability to earn a living,” he said. “That’s where I
think it’s fair, but the goal is to avoid it.”

Chicago cab driver Alithan Rustum said the extra fee has helped reduce the number of passengers
who get sick in his taxi. Now, drunken customers frequently ask him to pull over and let them
out.

“Before, people didn’t care. They just threw up. They didn’t have to pay anything,” said Rustum,
who has driven a cab there since 2001. “(The fee) is really helpful. The customer cannot reject
that.”